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Where ever your bug out location is, please respect the local customs. Where I live now is becoming more and more urbanized. People from the city are moving out and businesses looking for good employees are moving with them. My friends and I jokingly refer to people as 'from heres' and 'come heres'. There are people who move into our area and then try to change everything to resemble what they left! Go figure that one!
Please don't tell me that my church needs more instruments to play with the choir, or that the choir needs amplifiers (yep, 2 suggestions that were just recently made). Or, that the nursery needs childcare professionals instead of Moms and Dads.
Don't tell me that we need to increase taxes so schools can have more sports. . . . or a swimming pool.
And yes, we do have local bands that play at our town hall on Saturdays; most of the businesses do close on Sundays; and if you are arrested everyone in town will know when and why by the end of the day.
I find people who will not respect local customs tiresome. It's ok to suggest changes, but please don't make a list to present to us.
Where ever your bug out location is, please respect the local customs. Where I live now is becoming more and more urbanized. People from the city are moving out and businesses looking for good employees are moving with them. My friends and I jokingly refer to people as 'from heres' and 'come heres'. There are people who move into our area and then try to change everything to resemble what they left! Go figure that one!
Please don't tell me that my church needs more instruments to play with the choir, or that the choir needs amplifiers (yep, 2 suggestions that were just recently made). Or, that the nursery needs childcare professionals instead of Moms and Dads.
Don't tell me that we need to increase taxes so schools can have more sports. . . . or a swimming pool.
And yes, we do have local bands that play at our town hall on Saturdays; most of the businesses do close on Sundays; and if you are arrested everyone in town will know when and why by the end of the day.
I find people who will not respect local customs tiresome. It's ok to suggest changes, but please don't make a list to present to us.
This has been going on for centuries. Think of the great migration West.
Please don't tell me that my church needs more instruments to play with the choir, or that the choir needs amplifiers (yep, 2 suggestions that were just recently made). Or, that the nursery needs childcare professionals instead of Moms and Dads.
Those are people who hate the traditional family; you need to get them out of your church. They're Obama supporters or at least apologists; are they not? In an older and better day night riders would have gotten them out of the town.
I hear ya....people move to the wooded hill lakes from the rat race and want to build the same rat track!
They want the same manicured lawns with chemicals that go right into the lakes that we fish and swim in!
Curious - do you think this is a matter of education/ignorance or is it a matter of "*********, I want what I want"? I think it is actually the former. The average American has been brain-washed to believe the white picket fence and lush green loan equates success. There is another problem, given that people are so mobile these days, they are born in (e.g.) Kentucky which grows lush and green lawns naturally and then they move to Texas or New Mexico and bring with them the idea of the same lawn. The local garden centers fuel the business of "yes you can have the same lawn here, just apply this chemical and this fertilizer and this... while we turn you into a perpetual customer and oh, by the way, you need this $2500+ lawn mower now". I think it is really not even a matter of laziness as the average American male probably spends many an afternoon driving the expensive lawn mower around, fertilizing, blowing grass around using fossil fuels (another gadget), trimming and edging (yet another fossil fuel gadget) etc. just to keep a monoculture useless lawn around when instead he could spend the same time growing healthy veggies and fruits that his family could easily eat. Why? I think sheer ignorance coupled with being brain-washed by the educational/corporate complex (aren't they the same?), nothing else. How many people get a job in place X and do their research about anything more than maybe crime, commute and possibly but very cursorily - the weather? It is all inertia and inertia will collectively kill us.
They are given Information every year about maintaining the Lakes.
They Don't Care They Want no weeds in the woods.
Just like the home they also have in the Cities!
Those are people who hate the traditional family; you need to get them out of your church. They're Obama supporters or at least apologists; are they not? In an older and better day night riders would have gotten them out of the town.
I've seen you make some retarded assertions in your time here (all the white supremacist nonsense comes to mind) but this one has to take the cake. So wanting to improve local schools (no doubt it comes from parents with small kids) means they hate the traditional family?
..any chance we might get back on track here...I'm waiting....
Sure.
Best place for off-grid living is where you are, unless there are factors that you just cannot live with. What do I mean by that?
If you are stuck in a tropical place and you hate the heat and humidity, sure, go ahead and find a better climate. These are "macro" considerations. Water supply is another.
Then there are "micro" considerations - property taxes, your neighborhood (what do people do for a living, are they stupid and illiterate or are they mostly normal and educated, so on and so on).
USA is a huge country, you can literally spend years looking for your ideal place and you may never find it. Grass is always greener somewhere else. It can also cost a lot to find a place and due to "micro considerations" it may not work out anyway (think bad neighbours for example). There are no guarantees.
This is why I tell people to stay put and become self-sufficient where they are. If you live in the city, you can always take the weekend to get out to the country within a 50-100 mile radius around the city and find your land, with or without a house. Due to proximity and the fact that you already live there - you will know the area, the people, the climate, the problems etc. You will also be able to hang on to your day job until your place is ready to move in and you are ready to become more self-sufficient.
Another common mistake people make is rush into all this. Then they are surprised at how much it costs, they are surprised at all the work necessary to keep everything up and just stay afloat, the money is short, so on and so on. Several prerequisites: 1) be debt free or have a steady job from home if you intend to move to the country and be self-sufficient, 2) do your research while you still live in the city - have an excellent idea of what will be involved, 3) have a plan worked out down to the T, 4) have plenty of money in the bank, 5) prepare your place while you still live in the city
Many people make their lives very complicated because they are impatient. Such is the culture these days. Example: you work from home but your new self-sufficiency place needs a full renovation to be livable. You have nowhere else to live since you moved to your new place not prepared. Now you have to spend 8+ hours a day renovating but you also have a full time job. You will end up working on your house at nights and/or weekends, you will be unhappy and miserable and tired. Congrats, you just made your life VERY complicated, you may even start hating your job or the whole self-sufficiency thing or...
If you are stuck in a tropical place and you hate the heat and humidity, sure, go ahead and find a better climate. These are "macro" considerations. Water supply is another.
Then there are "micro" considerations - property taxes, your neighborhood (what do people do for a living, are they stupid and illiterate or are they mostly normal and educated, so on and so on).
The intrusiveness of the local and state government employees is another consideration. Many hate self-sufficiency and self-sufficient people; they will do their utmost to defeat you. Find an area where people have little use for government or the services they may require you to purchase. Avoid states where the cities have majority voting power.
Become self-sufficient a bit at a time. I've been at this for more than forty years and still have plenty to learn and do. Just be sure that you begin with well and septic rather than water and sewer from the grid. Consider replacing grid services rather than duplicating them. For example, replace electric light and appliances with nonelectric lights and appliances rather than spending an unrecoupable sum on solar power or wind turbines and batteries. That's no more off grid than purchasing your electricity by the kilovolt. Your steam, wind, and water power shouldn't rely on buying sophisticated replacement parts. A competent and well-equipped blacksmith should be able to make almost everything as long as you avoid electricity and electronics. Do find a place close to a stream or a lake. Be as far from neighbors as possible. Pick an area with a low population density and no srious weather hazards. Look at the land first, then the house.
Blacksmithing is useful and enjoyable while offering the possibility of a home based business. You can weld without either gas or electric arc, but do learn how to do it. Most of the priciples are the same. You can find welding courses anywhere; blacksmithing courses are not uncommon. Then get at least a steam-powered trip hammer. This will be a big project, but you'll learn plenty. Learn about power hammers. Learn how to spin and weave; like welding it offers both greater self-sufficiency and a way to make money. Become an angler; you can feed yourself and your family forever with no need to purchase or raise animals for meat. Learn how to preserve food and how to make cheese. Learn how to ride a horse. Learn these skills now. You don't need to wait until you move to the country. However, make your move as soon as you can.
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